23
Clare grew up near High Wycombe, and became a Christian when
she was 14 years old. In her early 20s, she started thinking that she
might have a vocation in the church. At the time, women couldn’t
get ordained: but time passed, and women were ordained as
deacons in 1985, as priests in 1994, and finally as bishops in 2015.
All Church of England clergy start as deacons, many go on to
become priests, and some to become bishops. Clare was ordained
as a deacon in Hereford Diocese in 1996, and as a priest in 1997.
Clare, moved to Oxford with her family in 2012. Oxford was closer
to parents, and besides, they wanted to be somewhere more
cosmopolitan. Clare remembers coming to Oxford on the bus as a
teenager, visiting the shops and going punting, so Oxford also felt
familiar.
Clare’s first priority after moving here was to bring her two parishes
– North Hinksey with Botley, and St Frideswide with Binsey –
together more, and make all four churches functional, with good
quality public worship, organised administration, and active church
members. That has now been done, and she is concentrating on
helping the churches be more outward-facing: not just perceived as
little groups of people who meet on Sunday mornings, but open to
the entire community.
One interesting aspect of the CofE is that it is, by law, a public good
which serves the whole community, not just the people who go to
church. Everyone who lives within the ecclesiastical parish
boundaries has a legal right to be baptised, married and have a
funeral in the church, and to be buried there if there is space. In
contrast, churches that are not CofE are only responsible for their
own congregations. So, for instance, every December Clare runs a
memorial service for people who have been bereaved over the
course of the previous year. She also provides memorial services,
for instance for Eleanor, the lady who lived by Seacourt Stream. and
died a couple of years ago.
Organisational objectives tend to be dry reading, but Clare gives
good examples of how the CofE’s objectives affect what she does:
Ø Pastoral – Looking after people who need support, exercising
love and praying for the community.